Enerplus (NYSE:ERF) Research Coverage Started at StockNews.com

Research analysts at StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Enerplus (NYSE:ERF - Get Free Report) TSE: ERF in a research note issued on Sunday. The firm set a "hold" rating on the oil and natural gas company's stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on ERF. National Bankshares reduced their price objective on shares of Enerplus from $25.00 to $21.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. TD Securities restated a "tender" rating and set a $18.85 price objective (down from $21.00) on shares of Enerplus in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, CIBC reduced their price objective on shares of Enerplus from $23.00 to $19.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $21.69.

Enerplus Stock Performance

Shares of ERF traded up $0.01 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $20.67. The stock had a trading volume of 2,812,188 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,383,464. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $17.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $16.56. Enerplus has a fifty-two week low of $13.46 and a fifty-two week high of $20.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.84 and a beta of 1.99.

Enerplus (NYSE:ERF - Get Free Report) TSE: ERF last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The oil and natural gas company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.01. Enerplus had a net margin of 27.67% and a return on equity of 40.36%. The firm had revenue of $437.10 million during the quarter. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Enerplus will post 2.06 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Enerplus

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ERF. Ninepoint Partners LP purchased a new position in Enerplus during the third quarter worth about $88,150,000. Palo Duro Investment Partners LP purchased a new position in Enerplus during the first quarter worth about $48,125,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in Enerplus by 1,039.9% during the fourth quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,124,770 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $32,602,000 after buying an additional 1,938,370 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new position in Enerplus during the first quarter worth about $20,622,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Enerplus by 74.2% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,986,433 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $37,906,000 after buying an additional 1,271,801 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.42% of the company's stock.

About Enerplus

Enerplus Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, explores and develops crude oil and natural gas in the United States. Its oil and natural gas properties are located primarily in North Dakota, Colorado, and Pennsylvania. The company was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.